Daily Debate: Did Tears of the Kingdom Do a Good Job with Continuity from Breath of the Wild?
Posted on November 04 2023 by Chakell Herbert
With Tears of the Kingdom living in our world for quite a few months now, I often find myself pondering this masterpiece of a game. Over time, I have started to view both it and Breath of the Wild as two halves of a whole story, where everything kind of comes full circle in the end. However, a few things irked me on my first playthrough regarding continuity, meaning consistent lore / story elements and events that carry over from the predecessor to the sequel.
Some story elements and details, like the plaques Princess Zelda has laid out near sites that were heavily affected by the Calamity, Master Kohga living in the Depths after falling down a hole in the first game, the Champions’ Ballad photo appearing in Link’s house if you completed that DLC in Breath of the Wild, and Princess Zelda talking to Queen Sonia about how Link once saved her and Hyrule from a great evil (Calamity Ganon), flow well into Tears of the Kingdom.
However, in other instances, the continuity is confusing. The disappearance of the Shiekah technology is unexplained (I still don’t buy Nintendo’s explanation for that). Many NPCs don’t recognize Link from his efforts in the first game. Zelda suddenly has time powers that weren’t alluded to in Breath of the Wild. And also, where the heck is Kass? There are just a few things that didn’t quite hit the mark for me regarding continuity between Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom.
But not every element can be perfect.
What are your thoughts on Tears of the Kingdom‘s continuity? Let us know in the comments!
Chakell (pronounced shuh-kell) is an associate editor for Zelda Dungeon! She has loved The Legend of Zelda series since she was a little girl because of its equal mix of princesses, besting bad guys, and heartfelt stories. Chakell lives in the overall tame state of Utah, but holds onto her childhood hopes to find an adventure in her backyard one day. She has a degree in English and is a full-time editor for a magazine. You can usually find her gaming (obviously), laughing with her husband, taking a long time to tell stories because she keeps getting distracted; getting sucked into books and podcasts; or snuggling her cute Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.
